a quick Google search shows up a ton results. so want to ask here for some recommendations.

we are setting up a new branch office for about 10-15 users, and because the up front cost is too high, so we plan to go with hosted PBX system (we hosted our own Cisco CME at HQ.) Any Good Vendor around?

also, looking for a reliable/non-expensive Internet provider for the area for fiber(plan ahead to get rid of our expensive T1 in HQ in the future). The previous company use OX communication, but we never use it before. Comcast also approaches to us early. It has been a nightmare to deal with AT&T these years. anyone uses Telepacific?

Hi there, we can definitely help you. Shoot me over your company information (name, company address and local phone) and we will negotiate the best pricing on fiber and hosted PBX with our 100+ National, Regional and Wholesale carriers (including Telepacific, Comcast, AT&T etc.). We have access to negotiated pricing better than going direct. Typical savings for SpiceHeads is 40-60%.

While we can set up hosted either BYOB (Bring Your Own Bandwidth) I'd suggest bundling the hosted PBX with the fiber for maximum savings and to eliminate the finger pointing when anything goes wrong. Always best to have one "throat to choke" :)

Let me know if we can help in any way. You have a ton of options and I'm happy to work up the most cost effective solutions from all the available carriers in your area. We do it every day!

Any particular reason it needs to be local? Most of the major players offer a hosted PBX solution. For ISPs anyone is better than AT&T, unfortunately I think they have a monopoly in CA

Personally, I would prefer any hosted solution to have the main hosting as close as possible to get better odds of a fast clean connection from the site to the host. Obviously I would prefer the host to have things redundant to something across the country/planet in case of disaster.

Are you looking for a reseller or do you want to deal directly with the hosted VoIP provider? I know you're asking the community for input, so don't want to kill the vibe with vendor hype, but PM me if you'd like RingCentral reseller info or if you'd like to talk to our sales team directly. I'm happy to provide help in whatever format you need. You can also PM Ray, one of our GGs. H's an engineer and can take care of a lot of questions if you're not ready to talk to sales.

I just completed another 300 person roll-out for a customer of ours and I can tell you that having the "telco" close doesn't really matter. What matters is your local UPLOAD speed and network infrastructure. I know everyone harps on download but when you're dealing with VoIP, keep in mind you're sending data OUT of your network so you need good upload & download bandwidth. You get caught-up with a 10MB down and 1.5MB up pipe - you're going to feel it.

Consider the math when you're buying bandwidth. Each call can take up 64K and with 15 users that's 960K so let's call it 1MB of bandwidth is "removed" from the pipe you purchase and it's that simple. Possibly save yourself some money - you could get a local cable company to supply you a pipe of 10MB down and 5 up; that will give your users 9/4MB of usable bandwidth if everyone is on the phone simultaneously.

Since we provide hosted VoIP and not the pipe, I can tell you that I've never seen an issue figuring out where the problem falls; you either have internet or you don't. When you don't, you won't have phones either. The VoIP PBX company is usually only responsible for their service being available for use. They obviously don't know your network, that's what the network administrator is for or paid services.

To have successful Voip you need a decent router & switch; make sure both have VLAN ability if you want to go down that path and have good processing power.

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That is so important Sego. Especially that you really need to consider that bandwidth just gone from your planning. So many folks forget about the guy in the back room downloading movies and the massive file sharing that goes on during the day are utilizing bandwidth. If that bandwidth is gone, the VoIP calls will crash, every, single, time. QoS/CoS/<insert your favorite form of packet tagging and prioritization here> can help in this area, but having the right ISP and enough bandwidth to run everything that your work site needs to do is step 1.

Other consideration is, you need to be able to get to your source location, not speedtest.org servers, I see many folks that are very glad to be getting 50 down and 10 up, to some server local to them. Most VoIP companies have a test tool that tests your connection to their servers. I think these have always got a bad rep, as folks think it is a way to drum up business. It is really that they know it doesn't matter how good your connection is to the server in the next town over, it is how good your connection is to the servers or the "site" you are trying to work on. Applies to pretty much everything, not just VoIP.

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Singkcheng, Sonic.net grew up here in the Bay Area over the past 20 years. We specialize in office setups like the one you are opening and can setup a full-featured Hosted PBX with virtually no startup costs. We offer Quality of Service (QoS) free of charge on our Internet connections, thereby giving voice IP traffic first priority no matter what. Would love to chat if you're interested in talking to us.